1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens-fitted photographic film package which has a simple exposure mechanism and contains a roll of unexposed 35 mm photographic film. More particularly, the present invention relates to a lens-fitted photographic film package having a sprocket disposed in a lower portion thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,087 and U.S. application Ser. No. 08/062,185 filed on May 17, 1993, a lens-fitted photographic film package (hereinafter referred to as a film package) contains a roll of unexposed photographic film attached to a cartridge, both disposed in a main body section. Front and rear cover sections are secured to the main body section to close the film package in a light-tight fashion. The main body section is constituted of an exposure chamber forming an exposure frame, and chambers disposed on opposite sides of the exposure chamber for holding the film roll and the cartridge, respectively.
The photographic film contained in the conventional film package is 35 mm roll film of ISO 135-type (International Organization for Standardization: 1007-1979). The 135-type film has perforations formed along both longitudinal side edges thereof. The perforations have previously been utilized to advance the film by a sprocket wheel having sprockets engaging in the perforations. But recently, most compact cameras advance the film by directly rotating a wind-up spool for winding up the film thereon. Therefore, the perforations are now chiefly used, again in cooperation with a sprocket wheel, to measure the amount of advance of the film so as to advance the film in increments of one exposure frame, that is, 38 mm in the 135-type film, since eight perforations are formed on either side of each frame recording area of the film. In the film package, a sprocket wheel (hereinafter referred to simply as a sprocket) also engages in the perforations so as to utilize the perforations not only for detecting one frame advance of the film but also for charging or cocking a shutter of the film package.
However, in order to detect that the film has been advanced by one exposure frame, it would be simpler to provide only one perforation for each frame recording area than to count every eight perforations. Also, the circuitry for detecting the advanced film amount could thus be simplified. For this reason, a 35 mm roll film has been proposed that has only one perforation for each frame recording area, on one longitudinal side edge of the film.
However, such a film having only one perforation for each frame recording area cannot be loaded in the compact cameras having a sprocket. To solve this problem, Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd., the assignee of this application, is developing such a 35 mm roll film that has eight perforations on one longitudinal side of each frame recording area and only one perforation on the opposite longitudinal side thereof, so as to be usable in either the conventional compact cameras having the sprocket or new type compact cameras having no sprocket and detecting one perforation for each film advance.
FIG. 7 shows a 35 mm roll film having a new perforation format that is proposed by Fuji but not yet published. Specifically, a film 2 pulled out of a cartridge 1 has perforations 4 on one longitudinal side thereof at intervals of eight perforations per full-size frame recording area 5, as in the conventional ISO 135-type film. The perforations 4, hereinafter referred to as successive perforations 4, are located on the upper side, as shown in FIG. 7, when the cartridge 1 is loaded in a cartridge chamber of most types of conventional compact cameras, wherein the film 2 is advanced one frame after each exposure by winding up the film 2 from the cartridge 1 onto the take-up spool of the compact camera. It is to be noted that the cartridge chamber and thus the cartridge 1 are disposed on the left side of the compact camera when viewed from the rear of the compact camera, as shown in FIG. 7, while the take-up spool is disposed on the right side. This arrangement is desirable for manually rotating the take-up spool with the right hand.
The film 2 also has perforations 6 on the other longitudinal side thereof at intervals of one perforation per full-size frame recording area 5. Each perforation 6, hereinafter referred to as the frame index perforation, is located on the lower side of the camera. Besides the perforations 4 and 6, the film 2 has several perforations in a tongue or film leader 3 for securing the film 2 to the wind-up spool of the camera. Since the sprocket of conventional compact cameras is disposed above the exposure frame, the sprocket can be suitably engaged in the successive perforations 4.
However, the roll film as shown in FIG. 7 cannot be used in a conventional film package. In the conventional film package, a film winding wheel is disposed on the right side so as to permit winding of the film with the right hand, in the same way as the compact camera, though the film winding wheel is disposed above the cartridge chamber. This is because the photographic film of the film package is previously pulled out from the cartridge and wound in a roll, and thereafter the cartridge and the roll of film are respectively placed in the cartridge chamber and the film roll chamber which are respectively disposed on the right and left sides of the film package when viewed from the rear. The film is advanced one frame after each exposure, from the film roll chamber into the cartridge, by rotating the film winding wheel. Therefore, if the roll film shown in FIG. 7 were to be used in a conventional film package, the cartridge 1 would be positioned in the right side, and the successive perforations 4 would be located on the lower side.
Since the sprocket of the film package is also disposed above the exposure frame in the vicinity of the film winding wheel and other film advancing and frame number counting mechanisms, it is impossible to adapt the roll film of FIG. 7 to the conventional film package. It might be possible to arrange the successive perforations 4 and the frame index perforation 6 in positions as shown in FIG. 8, that is, opposite the positions shown in FIG. 7, so that the roll film having the new format perforations 4 and 6 could be adapted to the conventional film package. However, the roll film as shown in FIG. 8 cannot be loaded in most compact cameras wherein the sprocket is disposed above the exposure frame. Therefore, such a film would not be feasible.
Meanwhile, film packages with an incorporated flash unit are also known. The flash unit is constituted of a light emitting portion and a printed circuit board. The light emitting portion is disposed above the film roll chamber and the printed circuit board, having electric elements such as a transformer and a capacitor mounted thereon, is disposed between the main body section and the front cover section. Conventionally, the space X for the electric elements is disposed between the film roll chamber 7 and the exposure frame 8, as is shown in FIG. 9, or on the right side of the film roll chamber 7, as is shown in FIG. 10, when viewed from the front. In either case, the film package with the flash unit has a greater horizontal length than the ordinary or standard film package.
It is to be noted that FIGS. 9 and 10 schematically show examples of arrangement of essential portions of the film package with flash unit, wherein reference numerals 9, 10, 11 and 12 designate the cartridge chamber, a film advance wheel, a viewfinder and the flash unit, respectively.